Hamilton East Croquet Club

Annual Report 2018-19

Vanessa Hanna (President)


It is a great pleasure to present the annual report for the 2018-2019 season of the Hamilton East Croquet Club. It has been a busy and very successful year.


Core Activities

Club play for Golf Croquet continued on Thursday and Saturday mornings (summertime) and afternoons (wintertime). We always have a good turnout and enjoyable games. Twilight play on Tuesday evenings over the summer period regularly attracted ten or so club members and one or two visitors who took the opportunity to try the game.

Club membership continues to increase and now stands at 42 with several potential new members trying out the game.  Almost a thousand (986) visitors used our facilities over the year, visiting non CWKC players on our Club days; competitors in HECC tournaments; guests for team building exercises; tuition for HBHS and Hamilton North Special School pupils.  Thanks to all our members who looked after all these visitors, and always made them feel so welcome.


Tournaments

HECC has hosted four tournaments this season sponsored by Seddon Park Funeral Home, Craigs Investments Partners, Hilda Ross Village and Jumplex. Attracting a full card of 36 competitors at each tournament shows the growing interest in croquet across the Waikato. Margy and Vanessa organised all of these events. Many thanks are due to them for arranging the entries, draws, and results hanks also to those members who were responsible for excellent lawn presentation and day-long provision of refreshments from the kitchen.  

Claudelands CC, via Mary Kennedy, introduced an inter-club event which was very successful and will be continued.

It has been an outstanding year for tournament success. Congratulations to the many Club members who competed with success in CWKC and regional events.

  • Allister, who won the CWKC Don Ryland Stars Handicap tournament;
  • David J for winning the Silver Badge Primary Grade Tournament for the Waikato;
  • Simon for winning the Handicap Singles competition at Hamilton East;
  • Allister, Graeme, Jayden and Mark who, respectively, won the Premier, Senior, Intermediate and Primary Grades Championship at HECC. All four went on to compete in the Waikato Championship Tournament, and Allister, Graeme and Jayden won in their grades. 

Congratulations, to Vanessa, for being selected for the Waikato team to play in the UNITE tournament. The team came fourth . Vanessa was also invited to play in the selection tournaments for the New Zealand team to play in the Women’s World Croquet Championships which was a great experience.


Grounds and Buildings

The other major activity for HECC is the maintenance of our grounds and buildings. The eastern bank has been cleared of vegetation by HCC, and we await a decision as to what will replace the ivy, and the trees removed by Stewart Hanna, David J,  Mark C and some Department of Corrections workers.

The lawns were vertidrained last May and will be fully dethatched this May, thanks to a grant from the Lion Foundation. The turf was sprayed twice this season for moss and broadleaf weeds - but an invasion of carpet grass needs urgent attention. The lawns held up well in the recent hot weather thanks to excellent maintenance by Rod, who has also made good use of the tractor and lawn-sweeper to keep the lawns clear of debris. 

The Club has great rapport with the Corrections Dept. who provide support for projects when requested. In April a repaint of the exterior of the Clubhouse was begun with the use of donated paint and input from Correction Dept. workers. The garden beds will be replanted shortly. Plans are in place to refresh the interior of the building and enlarge the seating area as funds permit.   

Individually and collectively, the HECC committee keep our Club running smoothly. We thank all of them, especially those who have served the club over the years and who are now resigning from the committee.


General

Last year the Club website (www.sporty.co.nz/hameastcroquet) underwent an upgrade with new material and up-to-date information added. Please use the website and encourage enquirers to visit the pages. We hope this will result in more visitors and new members, as well as keeping all our present members fully informed about the club


Future Plans 2019/20

  • We will host three in house tournaments and fulfil our obligations to CWKC and CNZ when/as required
  • Continue to support corporate social croquet events as a source of new members and fund raiser
  • Maintain the croquet courts to a high standard for competitive play
  • Promote new membership as space allows
  • Continue to encourage a competitive level of Club play, good court etiquette and rules observation
  • Make provision for the purchase of 4 sets of Quadway hoops, now widely used for competition play, and upgrade the Dawson croquet ball supply.